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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

ONCE is a modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard, lead singer of the Irish band "The Frames," the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story. Contains 13 original songs written and performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, all of which are performed in the film.

Amazon.com

Even those allergic to musicals may be won over by Once, a tender-hearted Irish romance with songs by Czech Republicborn Markéta Irglová and Frames frontman Glen Hansard. (The film's director, John Carney, actually used to play bass in the group.) The trick here is that Irglová and Hansard also play the leads; because their characters are shown busking, writing music, or rehearsing, the songs are smoothly integrated in the film. The overall acoustic mood won't surprise fans of the Frames--some tracks ("Say It to Me," "When Your Mind's Made Up") have even popped up on the band's albums, though the arrangements are more pared-down here, befitting the scruffy, street-musician setting. Being the lesser-known entity, Irglová feels like a revelation; she sounds a bit like a folkie Björk on "If You Want Me," and her song "The Hill" is downright heartbreaking. Irglová and Hansard had already made the 2006 album The Swell Seasontogether, so their collaboration here feels really organic--they sound particularly good together on the title track, for instance. Now that's the kind of magic you want from musicals. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Many visiting Amazon will remember the film THE COMMITMENTS telling the story of an Irish soul band specializing in many of the Stax classics of the sixties. Though most of the attention was focused on the rotund lead singer, the guitarist Outspan Foster was played by a veteran 21-year-old busker by the name of Glen Hansard. He played, in fact, one of the two first members of the band, since he and the band's keyboardist asked Jimmy Rabbitte to help them form a band (though they would dispense of their tentative name, And And And, though they were also considering And And! And). Though no one at the time would have guessed it, it was Hansard more than any other member of the fictional band (though it did tour as a real band in the wake of the movie's success) who would achieve musical success. About the same time that filming for the Commitments began, Hansard had formed a band, the Frames, that would over the course of the next seventeen years develop a reputation for being one of the best live bands in the world and though their recorded output never quite matched the extraordinary live performances they would release several superb albums. Two of the Frames' albums--FITZCARRALDO and THE COST--would be nothing short of masterpieces. One of the original members of the Frames was John Carney. To complete the background story, Carney met the young Czech singer Markéta Irglová while visiting Prague and she later provided some vocals for his 2006 solo album THE SWELL SEASON.

I'm not quite sure whose idea it was to make a movie, but former-Frame Carney and Hansard, with the help of our young Czech heroine, came up with the idea to make a movie based on Carney and Hansard's experiences in Dublin.Read more ›

There are movies that friends tell you about, and if those friends are forceful enough or more people make the same recommendation, you rouse yourself and buy a ticket, and if the movie turns out to be terrific, the next thing you know you're telling everyone about a film they just have to see.

This is called "buzz," and it's a very good thing indeed --- media companies hire consultants, often for impressive sums, to create that initial spark.

But "Once" starred Glen Hansard, lead singer of a terrific Irish band --- The Frames --- that's sadly unappreciated outside of Ireland. His co-star was Markéta Irglová, a 17-year-old Czech high school student who had never acted before.

And it was filmed, in 17 days, for $150,000.

For the longest time, the future of "Once" looked bleak: straight to DVD.

Then the film was invited to Sundance. It won the Audience Award. Fox Searchlight bought it. And as "Once" went out into the world, audiences took to it like a beautiful orphan --- they cherished it and made it a cause.

That's how I came to see it; many people prodded me. What they knew: I'm a sucker for emotion that feels authentic, and so I was absolutely enchanted by this little film.

And I do mean little. He's a singer. His girlfriend has left him. He'd like to make a record and get out of Dublin. Right now, he repairs vacuum cleaners and sings on the streets. Her situation's just as dim. She may dream of music, but she's in an alien culture, separated from her husband; she sells flowers and cleans houses to support her kid and mother. He and She (they are nameless) get together to make music; they become collaborators and friends, their songs propelling the plot.Read more ›

I really really enjoyed the film and though the acting and chemistry was great - it was the music that won me over.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's writing and performing was understated and moving. Though many of the songs appear on their 2006 disk 'The Swell Season' most people would have missed that (myself included).

The disk would be worth it for the first two tracks alone ("Falling Slowly" , "If You Want Me"), but the rest of the disk is certainly worth a listen.

Overall, the disk has a Damien Rice feel - and that is not horribly surprising considering the Irish busker w/the harmonies coming from a talented female.

Though the songs stand alone - folks should really see the movie and how Hansard & Irglova's chemistry really makes the entire thing work.

Unsurprisingly, John Carney's intimate 2007 boy-meets-girl musical, Once, has spawned an accompanying soundtrack disc. The nice surprise, however, is that a closer listen to the music yields even more dividends than the already rewarding movie itself. Similar to recent releases by David Gray and Damien Rice, a halting emotionalism and hopeful yearning informs many of the songs here but not at the expense of a certain pop sensibility that is both immediate and passionate. Most of the credit belongs to the film's two stars, Markéta Irglová and especially the Frames' Glen Hansard, who either jointly or individually composed all the tracks except one, Fergus O'Farrell's "Gold", a guitar-strummed jig played by the Irish band Interference and marked by a mournful violin.

One of the most accomplished songs on the album, the Beatlesque "Lies" transitions through a variety of emotions from poignant hesitation to cruel revelation with an unerring fluidity guided by Hansard's near-falsetto. For a marked change of pace, "Fallen from the Sky" provides syncopated pop fluff backed by the Frames' seamless harmonies, while "Trying to Pull Myself Away" carries a propulsive beat over a catchy, string-laden groove. True to the onscreen portrayal of a busker, the melancholic bitterness of "Leave", the more pensive "All the Way Down", and the primal desperation of "Say It to Me Now" rely solely on Hansard's searing vocal and guitar. Evoking Björk's plaintive but touching vocal style, the Czech Republic-born Irglová shines on the forlorn ballad, "The Hill", and especially on the Gallic-sounding, otherworldly "If You Want Me" backed by Hansard's aching voice.Read more ›

Thanks M Stebbins. I am so glad I was asked to contribute to the film. We had no idea it was going to take off. So thanks for your interest.. it is yours and many more like you that have made it a success. I only have one studio and one live album. I am working on a corker of a new album and have... Read More